Didier Reynders and Alexander De Croo open a conference in the Egmont Palace on migration in the 21st century

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development Cooperation Alexander De Croo opened today in the Egmont Palace the conference “Migration in the 21st Century: reflections and prospects for 2050”. This conference brings together different actors, including policy makers, governmental and non-governmental experts and academics. The aim is to achieve a more balanced and accurate understanding of the complex and multi-faceted phenomenon of migration. 

During his opening speech Didier Reynders discussed the current Belgian Presidency of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and its 65th birthday. He stressed that migration can have positive consequences for society. 

Read the speech of Didier Reynders here.

Alexander De Croo underlined that since the Second World War, there were never so many refugees. To enable the long term reception and integration of refugees in neighboring countries, the Belgian Development Cooperation is working together with the IOM. Our country was one on the founding members of the IOM in 1951. For non-earmarked contributions (‘core funding’), the Belgian Development Cooperation is one of the main IOM donors. 

Read the speech of Alexander De Croo here.

Other speakers at this conference were the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Theo Francken, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on International Migration Peter Sutherland, the Director General of IOM William Lacy Swing, the Director of Myria François De Smet and Ambassador Pierre Vimont.